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DISCOURSE 



DELIVERED BEFORE 



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THE BIBLE SOCIETY 



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PENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE AND THEOLOGICAL SEmNARI, 



GETTYSBURG, APRIL, 16TH, 1854. 



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BY REV. O. O. M'CLEAN, A. M. 

Of Middletown, Pa. 



X^VS/^^^^^^^^/V/'^W'^ 



GETTYSBURG : 
PRINTED BY H. C. NEINSTEDT. 

1854 



tr.: 



Petinsylvania College, 

April \lth, 1854. 
My Dear Sir, 
The Managers of our Eible Society are grateful to you for the 
services you kindly rendered them last evening, and have directed me to 
request a copy of your able and appropriate discourse for publication. 

Allow me to add, that I shall be gratified if you will comply with their 
wishes. 

With assurances of sincere regard, 

I remain, Dear Sir, 

Truly your friend, 

M. L. STOEVER, 

President of the Society. 
Rev. O. O. M'Clean, 



Gettysburg, April 18/.A, 1854. 

My Dear Sir, 

I sincerely tell you that my discourse was not prepared with a view to 

publication. With the hope, however, that some of its sentiments may do 

good, I hereby commit it to your disposal. 

Reciprocating fully your expressions of regard, 

I remain, 

Sincerely yours, 

O. O. M'CLEAN. 
Prof. M. L. Stoevek, 



DISCOURSE. 



Our purpose at this time, is to speak of Two leading ob- 
jects of Bible Associations in our land. 

One is, The establishment and perpetuation of natio7ial 
righteousness. 

We need spend no time in showing, that the God of nations 
requires a national righteousness to the temporal salvation of 
the people, as He does a personal righteousness, as the God 
of all flesh, to the salvation of the soul; that the temporal 
rewards and penalties of the one, are as certain as the eternal 
issues of the other. 

The covenant God entered into with the Jewish nation, is 
virtually entered into with every other, according to light giv- 
en ; and the succeeding history of the results of obedience or 
disobedience, is the same. Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal appear 
from all points of observation, with greater or less distinctness, 
in the history of the world ; and we will have failed to read 
aright, the stories of the most famous nations of antiquity, if 
we miss the lesson — " righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin 
is a reproach to any people." For none of them, on a distant 
approach to righteousness, even in the negative sense of not 
persecuting the truth, failed of a proportionate degree of ad- 
vancement. On the contrary, unrighteousness sunk them to 
their graves, though the descent might be through long centu- 
ries. We may choose to escape such a conclusion respecting 
them, by solving their destiny by a simple reference to the will 
of God. We may choose to believe no more, than that the 
four monarchies were merely set up and cast down by Almigh- 
ty power, in execution of the divine purpose respecting the 
kingdom of Christ. And this is true, God does his own 



6 

holy pleasure ia heaven and on earth. But if we would read 
their history profitably, we must apply to them the solemn 
scripture, applicable to the individual : "The wicked shall not 
live out half his days;" and, " the righteousness of the right- 
eous shall deliver them." And it is well to observe, how 
everything else failed to deliver the nations. The light of 
philosophy that shone on men's minds, unaccompanied by the 
ray of divine truth, the grand expansion of Grecian and Ro- 
man knowledge, all that was true and beautiful in art and 
science, all that was substantial in the theory and practice of 
of government, were nothing in the eyes of the Judge of the 
whole earth. His providence gradually loosened the curious 
Mosaic work, inlaid as it was, with the diamond, sapphire, and 
all precious stones, swept them off as rubbish, and bade his- 
tory point to the decayed frame-work beneath, that rested on 
no foundation of national righteous. 

If we attempt then, to solve our nation's problems, let us 
begin with the true text, " righteousness exalteth a nation." 
And it becomes us to consider how much the past delusive 
success of nations, how much our past advance and present 
apparent progress, how much our decoration with the orna- 
ments of art and science (ornaments alas ! now frequently 
dug up from the old graves of nations), how much our as- 
sumption and retention of the name of christian people, how 
much the loud acclaim of the world, that flatters our national 
piide, may all have led us to a blind assurance of faith in the 
" £5^0 joer^c^wa," declared by our constitution. We confess 
ourselves ignorant of any "law of national progress" but 
one. We do not understand the law of self-development, 
applied to man in any condition, personal, domestic, social or 
civil. He has no inward vital force, by which, of necessit}'^, 
he tends upward. On the contrary, his course is downwards, 
with acceleration proportioned to the length of his years; and 
nothing but the grace of God can stop him. His nature is the 
true stone of Sisyphus ; the world toils to raise it, but it every 
now and then rolls back, with crushing power. Strange indeed, 
that the only correct personal estimate of man, that given in 



the Word, and confirmed by experience, does not modify, or 
totally change the views some have of social development. A 
creature born in sin, under a curse^ with the intellect darken- 
ed, the heart corrupt, the conscience (that light so many 
boast ignorantly of )/a//ew, just like the other powers of the 
soul, the very body, bearing the prison marks upon it, and 
executed capitally, every day, in the face of the world, why 
it seems a mockery, to talk of any other development natural, 
of such a being, than one of degradation and death. We 
have intimated that what was true of him individually, is true 
of him socially. He may organize to an extent to grasp both 
the oceans, a population, busy, and skilful as the bees, may 
spread over the intervening territory, and store their wealth ; 
yet the aggregate is really no better, naturally, or more promi- 
sing than the individual. The only real gain and advance 
here made, is one of mere power. The things generally 
boasted of by natural men in organized bodies, are phosphor- 
escences ; cold lights that shine wherever there is corruption. 
Or, if there be a ground of true boast, the objects will be found 
not to be natural, but acquired through the direct or indirect 
influence of the gospel. 

It becomes us then, to turn away from our external splendor, 
which after all may not be from the orient of true future prom- 
ise, but merely the reflected glory we have caught from the 
sun-sets of other nations, and which we, in our turn, are des- 
tined to reflect on people of still greater magnitude, and to see 
if the Sun of Righteousness has indeed risen upon us. We 
must not so readily hear the flattery of the world, that hails 
the Young American giant of freedom. We gird him for the 
race with mighty iron cinctures; we make every telegraphic 
nerve tense with electric life; there pours through his veins 
the richest tide of commerce ; we seek to endow him with all 
human wisdom : we throw around him the starry mantle of 
our past glory, and behold him striding on in the greatness of 
his way, amid the acclaims of mankind ; yet let us know, 
that unless he is righteous, like many a Hercules before him, 
he will perish under the wrath of God. 



8 

Let us then see what are the more important elements of 
national righteousness^ and indicate briefly, as we pass along, 
how far they seem to be found in us ; and learn from all^ 
the responsibility of Bible Associations. 

One element of national righteousness is, constitution and 
laws based o?i the Bible. It is a partial view of the word of 
God, that makes it simply a revelation of his will to man, as 
he is related to eternity. It is designed as his rule of conduct, 
as a social being in time. He is to be separated in no condi- 
tion whatever, from the government of God, The social com- 
pact system, that originates government in human device and 
agreement, is atheistical in its tendency, and loosens the tie of 
human responsibility. "The powers that be," says the Apos- 
tle, "are ordained of God." Government, then, is His ap- 
pointment ; the original type of it being the family institution, 
and the great command, " obey thy father and mother," the 
radical law of it. This being so, it follows that the rule of 
government is the word of God ; and it follows also, that a 
necessary part of a nation's righteousness, will be conformity 
of constitution and laws to the Bibld. That there is with us, 
Buch a general conformity, you know. It was behind this 
great principle, that Webster entrenched himself, in his famous 
argument respecting the will of Stephen Girard. And we are 
glad to find the sentiment common. Let us rejoice in the 
evidences of the fact. We may remember that our very na- 
tional existence itself, did not commence in crime. We seem 
to have been born comparatively free, if we may so express it, 
from national original sin. Our very territory was settled from 
a religious necessity. On the shore of New England, Ply- 
mouth rock stands, the memorial of separation from the hoary 
iniquities of the old world. TherCy bowed, as around an 
altar of national consecration, the knees of our Puritan fathers. 
Thence they stepped forth, "kings and priests" of the most 
High, with a holy unction, the sweet savor of which perfumes 
American institutions. Nor are we to forget how the addi- 
tional material gathered to our shores, to form the foundation 
of our republic, was conglomerate of the precious stones, the 



9 

fragments of broken Zion of many a clime. Providence ap- 
peared to exhaust the resources of other nations, to replenish 
this continent with strong and virtuous souls. And when they 
were forced to the field of battle, the war was not one of ruth- 
less aggression, marked by the ancient sin of covetous or am- 
bitious conquest, but was waged for conscience and justice 
sake. And amid the many exhibitions of goodness that sanc- 
tified the struggle, every one here will fix the eye on the sub- 
lime and pure character of George Washington. The glory 
of his name are his righteousness and truth. Through their 
inward force, his nature was, under God, bright and beautiful, 
like the sun in its own light, shining with an intrinsic, and 
not merely borrowed excellence, thrown upon it by surround- 
ing favorable circumstances. And we love to think that we 
may illustrate, and partially at least, describe the early Ameri- 
can spirit, by his own. That spirit certainly exhibited itself 
in a legislation essentially christian. Permitting themselves to 
be guided by the common law of England, our early law- 
makers were so far influenced by the Bible, that, in the main, 
they added to, or rejected, according to the principles of right- 
eousness. The tone of legislation, in some of the States, was 
moral, even to the fault of over-much righteousness; a fault 
incurred by zeal, not always according to knowledge. But 
even in this, we see something favorable. It indicated by its 
unprofitable exuberance, a moral vitality in legislation, beyond 
what was usually the case, since the days of the Jewish theoc- 
racy. These legal excrescences have fallen off. But the 
spirit, that produced them, is still active. A tendency to moral 
legislation is every now and then exhibiting itself with power. 
It is one of the striking manifestations of the times. Those 
narrow views of political economy, advocated by some emi- 
nent men in France and England, during the past sixty years, 
that leave man unprotected in his moral interests, and fence 
him round in all other quarters, we are glad to say, do not gov- 
ern our legislation. And there is just now a wonderful revival 
of the idea, that legislation on internal improvements, or sci- 
ence and education, does not exhaust the legitimate labors of 

9 



10 

our representatives. Possessed already of enactments intend- 
ed to secure the better observance, externally, of a number of 
the divine commands, we are seeking further to restrain the 
outbreaks of man's corrupt propensities. It may have been 
known long ago, that certain physical stimulants made man 
worse, and more difficult to govern ; but the fact has only of 
late years attracted much attention. And people are begin- 
ning to see that it is right and consistent, to lay the hand of law 
upon them. And we are surprised, that any should think we 
have gotten off the proper track of legislation, by aiming at 
laws of prohibition against excitants to crime. For, if what 
we have said be true, such legislation is in entire keeping with 
past moral legislation. Unquestionably, when any thing be- 
comes a cause of evil, generally confessed and felt, there is pro- 
vision in a christian constitution to stop it, if a greater evil will 
not follow the hindrance. 

But we may, leaving ilie broad principle, contract the argu- 
ment thus, to suit any who may choose to deny the christian 
basis of our constitution. Governments have a constitutional 
right to hinder, and should, if possible, stop any cause that is 
seriously non-productive ; governments have a constitutional 
right to lessen taxation, and especially when taxation is con- 
nected with a non-producing cause ; governments have a con- 
stitutional right to make individual interests, especially when 
they are equivocal, bend to the common good. And all this 
being true, any statute law existing, that may come in, and 
create difficulties in the passage of a prohibitory law, or inter- 
fere with its fair and useful execution, shows itself — and not 
the prohibitory law — to be contrary to the spirit, at least, of our 
constitution. How much more, then, is it true, that no statute 
can, in any way, affect the clear sweep of law that is designed 
to arrest a fruitful source of crime, and not itself be contrary 
to the spirit of our constitution, and need modification, if, as 
certainly is the case, our government is essentially a christian 
one. It will be time enough to speak of any necessary moral 
enactment violating rights of conscience, and other personal 
rights, when we can show that it is always right to let natural 



11 

conscience guide a man as it pleases — and, therefore, that the 
Hindoo mother, if she were amongst us, might, unhindered, 
throw her child into the Potomac — when we can show, that 
personal right consists, literally, in a man's doing as he pleases. 
We admit that in the majestic march of such legislation, indi- 
viduals and corporations must suffer. Suffer they may, and 
suffer they must, if they sin, but wronged they are not. 

We hail these increased attempts at moral legislation, as 
indicating, in one direction, an increase in national righteous- 
ness, as expressive of clearer views of duty, and enlarged 
disposition to order and virtue on the part of a large portion of 
the American people. We look confidently for its progress, 
a progress still pointing to the time when " the kingdoms of 
the world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his 
Christ." 

Fairness requires, that we should look a moment at the de- 
fects of our national righteousness, under this head. One is, 
that the constitution of the United States did not, carrying out 
the spirit of the Declaration of Independence, from the begin- 
ning forbid slavery ; and that the constitutions of so many of 
our States, deliberately authorize it. Another is, that while 
by some laws the Sabbath is protected, by others, relating to 
the Post Office department, and some corporate bodies, who 
are allowed to violate the Sabbath, the former laws are ren- 
dered, in a measure, nugatory. Another is, that our legislation 
on divorce is, to a great extent, in direct contradiction to divine 
law on that subject, expressed with the utmost plainness and 
precision. Another is, that though the principle of moral le- 
gislation appears to be gaining ground, yet the practice of so 
many of our people falls below it. Profanity, Sabbath-break- 
ing, intemperance, and lewdness, prevail to a fearful extent, 
though it relieves the American character of much of the 
odium that might otherwise be thrown upon it, to know, that 
a large proportion of the villainies enacted, is by foreigners. 
" The whole number of persons convicted of crime in the 
United States, for the year ending June, 1850, was about 
twenty-seven thousand. Of these, fourteen thousand were 



VI 

foreigners. The whole number in prison on the first day of 
June, was about six thousand seven hundred. Of these, two 
thousand four hundred and sixty were foreigners." 

The question. Are a majority of our people morale is a 
most momentous one, connected with the fact of the general 
righteousness of our institutions and laws. For it is a sad 
thing, when a people's practice is better than its constitution 
or laws — sad only as far as it may lead to bloody revolution. 
But it is a sad thing in all respects, when a people's practice, 
in a majority of cases, falls below good constitution and law ; 
the heavy condemnation of rejected light, rests upon them. 
But we hope better things of the American people. We are 
willing to believe that not only is our righteousness, in a gen- 
eral way, exhibited in our constitution and laws, but also, on 
the whole, in the practice of our people. But heaven alone, 
can judge of the latter. 

Another element of national righteousness is, official recog- 
nition of God. This consists on the part of our rulers, sup- 
posed to speak the nation's voice, formal acknowledgment, on 
all proper occasions, of the being, perfection, and government 
of God; his providential care; of national obligation to his 
mercy; of national sin, accompanied with all proper efforts 
to make government a terror to evil doers, and a reward to the 
good — ^just at home and abroad — and also in their endeavoring 
to conform their own lives to the rules of morality, as the 
leaders of the people. 

In considering this particular, the defect that strikes us most 
unfavorably, is the lamentable failure, on the part of most su- 
bordinate magistrates especially, to enforce existing moral en- 
actments. We object seriously to this, not only because of its 
being a failure in duty on their part ; but because it does not 
fairly represent the moral sense of the community, and be- 
cause careless execution of any moral enactment, is just so 
much hindrance to progress in moral legislation. He, who 
bears the sword, ought not to bear it in vain. With this sad 
exception, and that of a particular department of general gov- 
ernment, authorizing the violation of the Lord's day, by the 



13 

transmission of mails, we are happy to state our belief in the 
moral character of our government — the correct official bearing^ 
on the whole of our nation — and we find an increased tenden- 
cy in our rulers to recognize the authority of God, our respon- 
sibility to him — the mediatorial reign of his son. 

Another element of national righteousness, is justice and 
m.ercy. A nation to be righteous in the sight of God, must 
afford itself an instrument of the divine retributive justice on 
earth; there must, as intimated under the last paragraph, be 
justice among the people to each other, and justice shown to 
other nations; there must be national benevolence shown at 
home and abroad. We remark, first, a nation must be a pun- 
isher of sin. As far as sin in the overt act comes under the 
cognizance of earthly governments, they have no option in 
the case. Human government being of divine appointment, 
it was so for this purpose, that God might, through it, govern, 
punish and reward men. Government, then, like the volca- 
no, like the earthquake, the devouring pestilence, or the final 
terrors beyond the grave, is one of the agents of Heaven's 
retributions on the wicked. And no nation, through a mawk- 
ish philanthropy, or false views of the gospel, can seek to es- 
cape this unpleasant duty, without incurring, we believe, the 
divine displeasure. The chief point of failure here, it will 
strike you, is the attempt making to set aside the principal 
temporal divine enactment against crime on earth; "whoso 
sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed." And 
thus, the theological error, that God is all benevolence, assumes 
a dangerous political form. Protesting against the imputation 
to those, who, from a sense of duty, defend capital punish- 
ment, of hardness, and unkindness to man, we would have 
those who are endeavoring to set aside a divine enactment, 
consider, in addition to what has been above urged, a senti- 
ment we once heard, in conversation, from one distinguished 
for practical wisdom ;* that if capital punishment be not a 
divine enactment, obligatory on governments, how is it, that 
almost invariably. Providence throws his net around the mur- 



* Rev. Dr. McConaugby. 



14 

derer, so that he cannot escape, and thus hands him over to 
governments God knows will execute him. 

Nations are equally bound to afford themselves the instru- 
ments of the proportionate punishment of other crimes. There 
is no more choice left them here, than there would be between 
setting up the idol of Baal, in the Capitol at Washington, and 
adhering to the acknowledgment of the true God. But a na- 
tion must he just ! It must be just in the fulfilment of inter- 
national obligations, just in the nature and administration of 
its laws at home, while justice among each other, must char- 
acterize a majority of the people. Professional and commer- 
cial intrigue, usurious practices, hard and oppressive dealing, 
unjust appropriation of any kind, among a majority of the 
people, are a violation of the implied national covenant, and 
bringdown a curse on the land ; and the opposite of these, 
national blessings. It may be, undue partiality leads to the 
supposition — but if so, you will pardon it — that while there is 
much to the contrary, there is much public virtue amongst us. 
There is much integrity in the various departments of Hfe. 
And what is an important item, oppressive monopoly (to what- 
ever extent it does exist) is not known, as in some other coun- 
tries on the earth. You are thinking, perhaps, of some great 
exceptions. Admitting the injustice done the Indian tribes 
sometimes, and the gross injustice done the colored population 
of the South — for all earth's sophistry cannot make it justice — 
we console ourselves with the thought that we see signs of na- 
tional penitence. There was this penitence in the breast of 
the framers of the Declaration of Independence, but policy 
kept their sentiments out of the constitution. There is inquiry 
north and south, as to the best mode of deliverance from the 
evil, not of Jewish, but American slavery, a thing entirely sui 
generis. And we will do many, who are personally involved, 
and more, perhaps, than we usually imagine, the simple jus- 
tice of believing that they are willing to be just to the slave, if 
fanaticism does not prevent them. National conviction of this 
evil betokens certainly anything else than a determined easy 
sphit under it^ or a being given over to judicial blindness, and 



15 

consequent national punishment on account of it. In con- 
nexion, we remark again, that true national righteousness 
means national mercy. How remarkably the nations of the 
earth have been wanting in this attribute ! Look at the penal 
code of many of them even now, that are professedly christian. 
The leading idea of old governments was, justice. They for- 
got to mingle it with mercy. Siie seldom smiled down on 
men from their civil and social institutions. It has been re- 
served for nations in these last times, and we think especially 
for Gur own, to become types and illustrations of the kingdom 
of Christ, in which "justice and mercy meet together, and 
righteousness and peace kiss each other." Such must they 
be, if they would permanently prosper. As a nation must 
yield itself an instrument of divine justice, so also must it, of 
divine benevolence. Laws must be made to favor the oppress- 
ed and down-trodden, to succor the needy, and deliver the 
poor when he erreth, and under the fostering care of govern- 
ment, and of the rich and influential, institutions must arise, 
in whose halls, and through whose corridors, Christ shall again 
walk, in the persons of his messengers of mercy, and heal the 
sick, wipe the tear from the cheek of the orphan, and cause 
the widow's heart to sing, while there must be. such a diffu- 
sion of the same spirit as, under a proper view of the horrors 
of strife, and of the relations of the universal brotherhood, 
will check the aspirations of national pride, and diminish the 
incentives to war. Proclaiming distinctly the exception of the 
institution alluded to, and without saying anything, what- 
ever, of it as a political measure, of a late law connected with 
it, I feel happy in thinking that I am a member of a govern- 
ment that may be, in the true sense of the word, termed more 
merciful than any on earth, and that I dwell among a merci- 
ful people. I feel thankful for what I see, on the whole, of 
a benevolent spirit in our national and State laws, and the 
manner of their execution, and in multitudes of our social in- 
stitutions, I hear the voice of mercy in the legislative hall, and 
in the court of justice; her celestial presence flashes from the 
domes of many an hospital, house of refuge, and instruction 



16 

for the poor, while she is admitted, in her benign mission, by 
the hand of justice itself, within the inner gates of the prison. 

Another element of national righteousness is, entire free- 
dom for^ and aid to, the operation of the Gospel. 

The world was made, and all the mighty machinery of 
Providence arranged, and all the affairs of man, civilly and 
socially, are conducted by the hand of Omnipotence, for the 
purpose of exalting the Son of God on earth. "The heathen 
may rage, and the people imagine a vain thing; the kings of 
the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together 
against the Lord, and against his anointed ;" yet the decree 
has gone forth, and cannot be reversed, that "to him every 
knee shall bow." And as we can trace in the affiurs of an- 
cient nations, preparations for Christ's incarnation, so can we 
see in iho providential conduct of nations now, preparations 
for the bringing in of his final universal spiritual dominion. 
The setting up of national power, pomp and glory against 
him, is commuted by the Lord into an aid to this design ; but 
a curse rests on the opposing people; and national influence, 
directed every way to this end, is accepted, and the most be- 
neficent blessings follow. And we can very easily conceive 
of all national arrangements, and that without any union of 
church and state, or without supposing a large majority of the 
people to be true christians, or without even referring the con- 
dition of things we speak of, to the millenium, being so order- 
ed as to promote this end. That is, under the influence of the 
ten thousands who are true believers, under a clear intellectu- 
al view and persuasion of the excellence and external advan- 
tages of Christianity, and of its connexion with national pros- 
perity, it is possible for a people, in the majority, to be brought 
to pour the full tide of their influence, in their legislation, 
commerce, agriculture, and learned professions, into the chan- 
nel of gospel support. And verily, this shall be their great 
righteousness, the highest exhibition of ordinary national 
virtue, an advance that shall be in extreme and glorious con- 
trast with the martial or intellectual greatness of the nations of 
antiquity. 



17 

It is plain from this, that the lowest form of such national 
righteousness, consists in giving full scope and freedom to the 
operation of the gospel. It is a law of Christ's kingdom that 
that gospel shall be preached to the poor — to the masses. And 
wo be to that people, sooner or later, who by civil enactments, 
or in any way whatever, hinder His mission, who was sent to 
the poor — whose appropriate audience on earth, are publicans 
and sinners. The curse of this sin is now resting on some of 
the nations of the old world, and the blessing of an opposite 
course on others. Observance of the law is one of the grand 
elements of their strength — ^just as it has been the element of 
strength and prosperity in the denomination founded by Wes- 
ley (alas! that we see any signs of departure from its original de- 
sign) — and we believe it to be one of the main elements of 
our own nation's prosperity. We rejoice in the fact of our ex- 
emption from civil hindrances to the gospel, saving in the case 
of those unfortunate slaves, who are not permitted to be taught 
to read. But it is something, that, as far as we know, they 
are not hindered by civil enactments from hearing the word. 
Be it noticed, that all our social institutions (the one alluded 
to just now, being but a partial exception) are so modified, as 
to give the preacher of the gospel and the Bible distributer, 
access to all. In addition to this, we must recollect the nation- 
al respect that is paid to Christianity — the protestant position of 
a majority of the people — and the liberal aid extended by citi- 
zens, to promote education and other things that are helps to 
the gospel — and to promote the gospel itself, at home and 
abroad. We are not to overlook our thousands of Sabbath- 
Schools and Missionary Associations — nor our ten thousand 
churches for the worship of God. We are not to forget that 
our American Zion, for zeal and self-sacrifice, is the praise of 
the whole earth. And we are to look at all this as constitut- 
ing, unquestionably, a part of our national righteousness — to 
be followed by corresponding ^eTTijoora/ blessings. How much 
of it is real, is not for us to say — nor is this a question we need 
now consider — that is a question relating more to the eternal 
award of individuals^ than to the temporal salvation and pros- 
3 



18 

perity of nations. That much — that a great deal of it, isreal 
and spiritual, (and we believe it to be so) adds to the glory of 
our national righteousness. It is true, that there is much that 
opposes the progress of the gospel amongst us, in some ways. 
But we believe that Infidelity and Jesuitism are not sins to be 
laid to the charge of a majority of our people. Both are, in 
the main, exotics; they take root, and grow rapidly in our soil, 
we admit — but they are marked by the large portion of our cit- 
izens as Upas trees, and we believe a majority of our people 
avoid their deadly influence. 

It is true, again, that many of our people appear gospel- 
hardened — but the spread and power of revivals amongst us, 
and the large accessions to American churches, appear to indi- 
cate that by us, as a people, the external advantages and privi- 
leges of Christianity, and its more important spiritual blessings, 
have not been forfeited, at least, by national rejection of the 
gospel. 

In drawing from these imperfect remarks, conclusions re- 
specting the responsibilities of Bible Societies in our land, it 
has not escaped your notice that the view taken of the moral 
condition of our country has, on the whole, been favorable. 
Too much so, perhaps you will say. Yet we have spoken 
our convictions — and you will not deny us the privilege of 
entertaining them. We may satisfy your scruples, by\ admit- 
ting our national danger, \.o the full extent, if you will, to 
which you realize it. But let us rejoice in the evidences of 
national righteousness that are before us. And let us remem- 
ber that we owe all to the direct and indirect influerice of 
God^s word. How important then, that organization appears, 
whose design is to carry that word through the length and 
breadth of the land. I flatter you not, when I tell you that 
you take precedence of all organizations known in our coun- 
try, except the visible church. 

How obvious then your duty, to redouble your zeal. A 
strange supineness has crept over many Bible Associations. 
They, of all bodies on earth, should not sleep. They have 
more conservative power entrusted to them, than any other. 



t9 

Let your motto then be, prayerful earnestness. There must 
be that spirit in your going forth to conquer kingdoms for 
Christ, that there is in the single soul going to take the spirit- 
ual kingdom. You must agonize to enter. Bring then to 
bear, all the moral forces you wield — superior to those of the 
Tract, Sabbath-School, or any other association, in so far as 
the Bible is superior to Tracts and Sabbath-School books — 
upon every institution in ourland, and especially the domestic. 
Let me urge you to this by every unfavorable circumstance 
we have dwelt on. The greatest difficulties besetting our na- 
tion, are those involving moral questions of a high order. And 
these, it is beyond the power of mere political and legislative 
wisdom, satisfactorily to adjudicate and settle. To meet fairly 
such a question as that of slavery, for instance, or that of Jes- 
uitism, or Infidelity, or any question lying beyond the range 
of " internal improvement," there must be rectified views of 
individiials. The source of this rectification is not education, 
common sense, or natural conscience alone — but direct light 
from the word of God. It has always seemed to many, as if 
the attempt to force national or state legislation on any moral 
question, making that ihefirst thing to be done, was exceed- 
ingly unwise. 

Some, however, who cannot wait for God to reform the 
world in his own way, say, that what we require has been 
done, and point to the insufficiency of the result. Denying 
such insufficiency, we point with all confidence to what has 
been done by the moral power of God's word, acting on the 
individual, to modify wrong, and give hope of its eradication. 
The result is satisfactory. 

But finally, it is an encouragement, and an argument for 
bringing to bear the power of the Bible on the settlement of 
intricate moral questions, involved by the contact of years, 
with our very being, that the Bible proposes to settle them 
without sundering national ties, or disturbing our brotherhood. 
Appealing first to any other adjudication — and passionately 
grasping at some other mode of settlement, we need not be 
surprised at the leaclion of bloody revolution. 



20 

The other leading object of Bible associations in our land, 
is the salvation of souls. 

Those who are engaged in this cause with right views, aim 
at the glory of God, the end of all things. But next to this, 
and as the chief mean of promoting it, is the rescue of men 
from the ruins of the fall, and their restoration to the divine 
image. Compared with this high end, many other legitimate 
ones are insignificant. But there is danger of our somewhat 
neglecting it. 

In the church, and religious associations connected with it, 
worldly external influence, according to divine constitution, is 
joined with the spiritual. But if due care be not taken, the 
world's idea of the church and its appliances, being very good 
things for necessary ordinary uses, will be allowed too freely to 
leaven the visible body of Christ, and its moral institutions. 
Their mere temporal advantages will be suffered too much to 
occupy the foreground of the view. This has appeared to an 
extent the case with regard to Sabbath associations and conven- 
tions. How far this may be so with Bible societies, or wheth- 
er it can be affirmed of them at all, we do not undertake to 
say. But that there is danger in this utilitarian age, of the 
Bible itself being ranked loo much among the resources of 
revenue and power, we suppose all will admit. For this rea- 
son, it is certainly a very common thing to find the great and 
the wise bowing to Solomon, and the rich among the people 
entreating his favor. There is undoubtedly a national exalta- 
tion of the word of God, that is not easily separable from that 
of commerce and agriculture, science, and the fine arts ; and 
Christ may have a solemn inauguration, not essentially differ- 
ent fiom that of a patron saint. One of the favorite schemes 
of the great adversary, in our age, appears to be, fo hide the 
Son of God, in his own external glory — to blind men to the 
true light, by the blaze of the outward — to weaken the hands 
of the church by spoiling her motives, and misdirecting her 
zeal. 

Thankful that associations for doing good, are supported by 
the intelligence, virtue, and wealth of the enlightened, let us 



21 

beware that the scale of duty be not graduated by earth's best 
measure — that we do not, in seeking, through the instrumen- 
tahties we wield, to make men worthy citizens in certain res- 
pects, forget that our grand object is to deliver them from sin 
and perdition, and raise them to holiness and heaven. 

It is chiefly through the fooHshness of preaching, God saves 
them that beheve. Yet we probably underrate the import- 
ance of the word read^ as a mean of salvation. This is ow- 
ing, in part, to its influence being more secret, and having less 
to do with the interference of human agency. But there is 
another reason. The more public channels of conveying 
truth, in our age, seem to attract more attention, than the do- 
mestic channel, one of God's great appointments for learning 
the knowledge of Christ, and in which the word readj under 
earnest, prayerful, parental sanction, is the chief mean. The 
word bears testimony concerning itself, that it is "able to make 
men wise to salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus." 
How rich and abundant are the illustrations of this truth, in 
the history of the church ! The forces that, sustain and con- 
stitute the vitality of nature, sometimes appear, working out 
their designs, with a wonderful "observation." But when we 
neither see nor hear them, they are — hidden and secret, operat- 
ing around us, and we only realize their presence in their or- 
dinary effects. So with the spiritual agencies of God's king- 
dom. They sometimes break forth in the glorious observation 
of revivals of religion — but they are operating also with a si- 
lent power among the families of the earth, especially where 
the word is read — and thus, Jesus "comes down like rain on 
the mown grass, as showers that water the earth." And we 
should not fail to notice how God's covenant with Abraham 
respecting the visible body of Christ, has a domestic bearing; 
and how, ordinarily, the blessings of Zion have descended 
through father and son. Blessed usually have been those fam- 
ilies, where the word of God was made the meditation of pa- 
rents and children, day and night. There is, perhaps, no por- 
tion of the earth, where the religion of Jesus has been more 
kept up in family succession, or where there prevails more 



*2*2 

generally among the people, a pure and subslanlial piety, 
than in Scotland. And there is no country, taken as a whole, 
perhaps, where the Bible is more read and studied in a practi- 
cal way. Similar illustrations of the secret and family influ- 
ence of the word read, are numerously recorded, and known 
to most of you, in the history of Bible and Tract colportage. 
Bible associations, then, keeping the high aim of the salva- 
tion of souls before them, are to go forth to the work, in the 
way in which, under the blessing of God, they will be most 
likely to accomplish it. That way we would respectfully 
suggest, will be, to attempt to place a copy of the scriptures in 
every house in the land, where one is needed — to render it ac- 
cessible to all — and by every proper personal effort, to encour- 
age men to read it, and pray over it, fw the enlightening spirit. 
Be encouraged to this work, in view of what we have just said 
of the word read as a divine appointment, through the spirit's 
power, to man's salvation. You are to go forth, under the di- 
rect apprehension, that you are working with a mean that God 
has tied to an end — a tie to be confirmed or loosened, accord- 
ing to his good pleasure — like all other ties in the kingdom of 
nature. For either "means of grace" is a phrase of pure the- 
ological invention and fancy — and if so, is an imposition on 
the christian world ; or, is language that accords with the teach- 
ings of God's word, and should influence our conduct more 
than it seems to do. It cannot be correct to say, that "means 
of grace" are only applicable where grace already exists, for 
we are commanded to ^'■strive to enter in at the straight gate." 
Repentance and faith are certainly immediate duties of every 
sinner; but we would not leave him in the death of his un- 
willingness, and therefore impotency, to comply with gospel 
commands, without informing him of means adapted to his 
exigencies. Such a doctrine can only injure, when loosely 
stated, and when the sinner perversely rests in the means, in- 
stead of striving through them to get to Christ. It becomes 
us then, more to exalt the agency we wield — the word read, 
next to the word preached, the power of God to salvation. As 
David and those who carried the aik from bnnighment, we are 



23 

bearing something, the Hke of which is not to be found in the 
earth. We are moving with that divine word, by which the 
mountains and hills are to be levelled, and the valleys exalted, 
and a way to be made for the Lord of hosts. It becomes us, 
then, as did the company of David, to move forward with 
songs of thanksgiving, and more assurance of success. 

Be stimulated, again, to further and more diligent exertion, 
by the vast amount itself of unsuccessful Bible effort already 
made, leading to the supposition that that effort was lame in 
some or many important particulars. Indeed the very fact 
that you may be the savor of death unto death, as well as of 
lif« unto life — that you may fearfully aggravate the moral ruin 
around you, should lead you to sow with more care, and pray- 
er to God for His spirit, the seed of the word. While in the 
gloomiest hours of your want of success, you are to remember 
what every minister of the gospel especially should, that the 
success of many toilers in the vineyard, appears often to be 
merely in their succeeding to be faithful and laborious. The 
fruit is often, in a way utterly unaccountable to us, denied. 
There appears, often, an analogy between the operation of 
natural and spiritual agencies, in their coming down designed- 
ly powerless. The natural and spiritual husbandman must 
often cast some seeds on the rock. Yet both must sow on — 
sow on — that is the appointed labor of our life. 

Again, we should be encouraged to go on with renewed 
zeal, in view of some things that appear externally favorable 
to the work. The entire freedom of access the word has, 
mentioned under the former head, is one. We do not just 
allude to the fact of our being permitted to distribute the word 
without the civil hindrances existing in some lands, but to our 
entire freedom of access, for the most part, to families and 
persons. Our mode of society, affected as it is b}'^ the prevail- 
ing republican spirit amongst us, has few barriers to free per- 
sonal communication. There is also something in the do- 
mestic relation in this country, that seems favorable to the 
successful, or unhindered pursuit of your work. It has a 
comparative elevation, not to be found, perhaps, anywhere 



24 

else — and probably presents amongst us authority and influ- 
ence, that may be turned to great advantage in impressing the 
lessons of God's word. Let us not forget, too, the denomina- 
tional effort to enforce the truth. Christians of various bodies 
are busy in issuing publications, partaking, it is true, of de- 
nominational distinctions — but generally agreeing in setting 
forth Christ and him crucified, as the ground of a sinner's 
hope ; and faith and repentance as the way through which the 
blessings of salvation can be enjoyed. And in this, we may 
be permitted to observe, appears the divine unity of protestant- 
ism — a better unity than others boast of, and one that sect no 
more really destroys, than the seams in the walls, or the differ- 
ent rooms of a house, destroy its unity. The informing spirit 
of protestantism — Bible truth — is its bond of unity through 
the spirit. Again, we remark, we are not to overlook the in- 
tercessory influence of the church amongst us. Our American 
Zion has power with God. All who work in this labor of 
love are prayed for, and sympathized with, by ten thousand 
souls whom they have never seen — and the Bible distributer, 
with the minister of the gospel, has a constant remembrance 
in the closets and at the family altars of our christian people. 
These things, and some others we cannot now mention, that 
are themselves directly or indirectly owing to Bible influence, 
cheer you onward — while there sounds above them all, the 
still small voice of the promise, "He that goeth forth and weep- 
eth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with re- 
joicing, bringing his sheaves with him." In addition to what 
we have said, it may be worth while to notice, that most of our 
people can peruse the word of God, and to observe the vehi- 
cle in which, for the most part, saving truth is carried over the 
land — the English tongue — a medium so well adapted to the 
clear and concise statement of the form of sound words — a 
language so universally spoken, and which it is extremely 
probable, will be used as the most influential channel of 
spreading the knowledge of the Lord in the latter days. 

Permit us to close, by further cheering you in your labors, 
with a sentiment that has been entertained by many great and 



^ood men, viz: That oui] country was designed by God, as 
the chief theatre of Bible influence on the earth. Says Ed- 
wards, "God has made, as it were, two worlds here below, the 
old and the new, according to the names, by which they are 
now called, two great habitable continents, separated, one from 
the other ; the latter is but newly discovered— it was formerly 
wholly unknown, from age to age, and is, as it were, but new- 
ly created. It has been of late, wholly in the possession of 
Satan, the church of God having never been in it, as it has 
been in the other continent from the beginning of the world. 
This new world is now probably discovered, that the new, and 
most glorious state of the church on earth might commence 
there, and that God might in it begin a new world in a spiritu- 
al respect, when he creates the new heavens and new earth.'' 
And a little further on he adds, "it is worthy to be noted that 
America was discovered about the time of the Reformation, or 
a little before," and he intimates his belief that God intended 
to prosper, in one land particularly, his holy religion, that he 
had revived in Germany, under Luther. We believe in this 
prospect, on rational and scriptural grounds — whatever differ- 
ence in the interpretation of prophecy may exist — ^and we re- 
joice in it. We bid you look forward with hope, even in the 
midst of much existing immorality, and the efforts of power- 
ful foes, to the time when our (jountry will have risen to the 
true character and station of a christian republic — when clear 
and saving views of truth shall abound like day — and the 
general practice of all "things (lovely, and of good report," 
make her beautiful and conspicu|)us among the people of the 
earth, that shall walk with Cjirist in his Millenial glory. 
Blessed are your hands that labor for such a consummation ! 
Blessed are the eyes that shall behold it, and the ears that shall 
hear the harmonies of a redeemed nation ! 



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